According to an editorial published in the Detroit Free Press, Michigan democrats are pushing for iPods and other MP3 players to be distributed to students throughout the state. Recently, state house speaker Andy Dillon suggested the idea, citing the MP3 players as learning tools and pushing for US$38 million to be allocated toward the effort.
The proposal has triggered a controversy in Michigan politics, the state currently facing a US$600 million deficit this year and a US$2.1 billion deficit in 2008, according to MacNN.
“My members are telling me they have much more pressing things they’re worried about, like whether they’re going to be able to make payroll in May,” said Michigan Association of School Boards spokesman Don Wotruba.
The proposal has drawn flak from Republican quarters, party members and their supporters accusing the Democrats of wasting money on luxuries while supporting stressful tax hikes that have been simultaneously offered along with the iPod program. Opponents to the proposal have gone as far as to pen an editorial in the Detroit News.
“We wonder how financially strained Michigan residents will feel about paying higher taxes to buy someone else’s kid an iPod,” wrote the editorial’s anonymous author.
The Michigan state fiscal year begins in October with state officials hoping to have their budget signed by first of June.
Although iPods and other MP3 players have been handed out to students and faculty at various educational levels for years, including Duke University’s Duke Digital Initiative, no comprehensive study has emerged regarding the effects of these devices and learning.
According to an editorial published in the Detroit Free Press, Michigan democrats are pushing for iPods and other MP3 players to be distributed to students throughout the state. Recently, state house speaker Andy Dillon suggested the idea, citing the MP3 players as learning tools and pushing for US$38 million to be allocated toward the effort.
The proposal has triggered a controversy in Michigan politics, the state currently facing a US$600 million deficit this year and a US$2.1 billion deficit in 2008, according to MacNN.
“My members are telling me they have much more pressing things they’re worried about, like whether they’re going to be able to make payroll in May,” said Michigan Association of School Boards spokesman Don Wotruba.
The proposal has drawn flak from Republican quarters, party members and their supporters accusing the Democrats of wasting money on luxuries while supporting stressful tax hikes that have been simultaneously offered along with the iPod program. Opponents to the proposal have gone as far as to pen an editorial in the Detroit News.
“We wonder how financially strained Michigan residents will feel about paying higher taxes to buy someone else’s kid an iPod,” wrote the editorial’s anonymous author.
The Michigan state fiscal year begins in October with state officials hoping to have their budget signed by first of June.
Although iPods and other MP3 players have been handed out to students and faculty at various educational levels for years, including Duke University’s Duke Digital Initiative, no comprehensive study has emerged regarding the effects of these devices and learning.